LIVERPOOL — Royal College of Nursing chief executive and general secretary Prof Nicola Ranger will urge UK ministers to introduce mandatory minimum safe nurse staffing levels when she opens the union's annual congress in Liverpool on Monday. Her call follows a survey of more than 13,000 nurses that found widespread shortages on shifts across the country.

Of those surveyed, 64% said the number of registered nurses on their last shift was below or well below what was needed to ensure safe care. Twenty-two percent said staffing on their last shift was well below what was needed, leaving care significantly compromised and posing a high risk of harm to patients and staff.

Ranger will accuse ministers of failing to ensure sufficient nurse numbers and of setting up the nursing profession to fail. "Widespread vacancies of registered nurses are always unsafe. But the risk is being compounded by the demands of delivering ever more complex care to an ageing, sicker population, with multiple conditions. It's a deadly mix," she said.

The Royal College of Nursing warned that frail, elderly patients face particular risk because of the shortages. A nurse working on an older people's ward in England said: "Managing high-risk fall patients who require one-to-one supervision is simply not achievable with current staffing levels."

A nurse working in an A&E in England described one shift in similar terms. "The shift was completely unsafe and it felt like a miracle that avoidable harm was not caused," the nurse said.

Figures released by the college show that growth in the nursing workforce slowed last year to its lowest level in eight years. Over the past decade, the rate of increase in the number of doctors employed by the NHS in England has outstripped that of the nursing workforce by 51%.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Nurses are the backbone of our NHS, and support patients both physically and emotionally in their most vulnerable moments. It is vital that they are equipped with the tools and resources they need to deliver world class care to those who need it."

The spokesperson added: "We have recruited 16,000 more nurses and health visitors since we were elected in July 2024, and our upcoming 10-year workforce plan will set out a clear roadmap to improve working lives in the NHS, including better treatment of staff, higher-quality training, and more fulfilling roles."